This work is long out of copyright
, and might shed some further information on what was considered "gun making" at the time.
THE GUN-MAKER.
THE business of the GUN-MAKER is the manufacturing of fire-arms of the smaller sorts, as muskets, fowling-pieces, pistols, &c.
The exact time when gunpowder and firearms were first employed in war by the British nation, is difficult to be discovered. If Robert Bruce may be credited, Edward the Third used cannon in his first campaign against the Scots, in 1327. The French undoubtedly used them in 1338, as well as Edward at the battle of Cressy, in 1346.
But fire-arms of a portable construction, were not, however, invented till the beginning of the sixteenth century. In 1521, the musket, mounted on a stock, was used at the siege of Parma; and, probably, was soon after adopted in England. Its form was clumsy, and its weight inconvenient; while the bow, in the hands of an English archer, retained the credit of having, within a determinate range, a steadier aim and greater execution.
The pistol had its origin from Pistoya, a town of Tuscany, and was introduced into England, about the middle of the sixteenth century. Many of the shields, said to have been the spoils of the Armada, in 1588, have pistols in the centre, with little gratings for the aim. They were sometimes introduced
at the butt-end of the pike, as well as in the time of Edward the Sixth, at the lower end of the battle-axe.
In the reign of James the First, we find muskets and calivres among the principal weapons of the infantry, as well as pistols and carabines of the calvary.
The great alteration when matchlocks were no longer used, took place about the third or fourth year of William the Third.
The progress of fire-arms in France, was not dissimilar to that of England. It was not till after the accession of Francis the First, in 1515, that any considerable change was effected. Between that time and the death of Henry the Third, in 1589, pikes, the ancient weapon of the French infantry, gave place to the arquebuss; while in the cavalry, lances were gradually and reluctantly exchanged for the pistol.
At that period, the Spaniards were far superior to the French in the art of war. The infantry of Philip the Second, by whom the use of fire-arms was very early adopted, spread terror over Europe,
For the introduction of the bayonet, we refer to the article Cutler.
The principal part of the muskets, fowlingpieces, pistols, &c. is the barrel, which, however, is not made by those who call themselves Gun-Smiths, but by persons who forge them in a large way, and who have forges and premises adapted to the business ; the forges used by Gun-Smiths being on a much smaller scale than those required for the manufacture of the barrels.
Amongst Gun-Smiths, great attention is paid to the division of labour : one man set of men, is employed in what is termed the boring, though, in truth, the barrels are formed at first with a bore throughout, but not with that accuracy which is required for these kind of instruments; other persons are employed to file and polish the outside of the barrel; to some is allotted the business of making and fixing the breech, the touch-hole, &c. others, forge the locks in a rough way, and others are employed to file, polish, and put together the several parts of which the locks are composed.
The barrel ought to possess the following properties: lightness, that it may be as portable as possible, and strength, to bear the effect of a full charge without bursting : it ought to be constructed, so as not to recoil with violence, and it ought to be of sufficient length, to carry the bullet to as great a distance as the force of the powder employed is capable of doing.
To form a gun-barrel in the manner generally practiced for those denominated common, the workmen begin by heating and hammering out a bar of iron into the form of a flat ruler, thinner at the end intended for the muzzle, and thicker at that for the breech; the length, breadth, and thickness of the whole plate being, of course, regulated by the intended length, diameter, and weight of the barrel. This oblong plate of metal, is then by repeated beating and hammering, turned round a cylindrical rod of tempered iron, called a mandril, whose diameter is considerably less than the intended bore of the barrel. The edges of the plate are made to overlap each other about half an inch and are welded together by heating the tube in lengths of two or three inches at a time, and hammering it with very brisk but moderate strokes upon an anvil which has a number of semicircular furrows upon it, adapted to the various sizes of barrels. The heat required for welding, is the bright white heat which precedes fusion, and at which the particles of the iron unite so intimately with one another, that when properly managed no trace is left of their former separation. These heatings and hammerings are repeated until the whole barrel has undergone the same operation, and all its parts are rendered as perfectly continuous as if it had been bored out of a solid piece. For better work, the barrel is forged in separate pieces, of eight or pine inches in length, and then welded together, lengthways, as well as in the lapping over. The other mode being the easiest and quickest done, is the most usual.
The barrel is now either finished in the common manner, or made to undergo the operation of twisting, which is a process commonly employed on those barrels which are intended to be of a superior quality and price. This operation consists in heating the barrel in portions of a few inches at a time to a high degree of red heat; when one end of it is screwed into a vice, and into the other is introduced a square piece of iron with a handle like an auger, and by means of these the fibres of the heated portion are twisted in a spiral direction, which is thought to resist the efforts of the powder much better than a longitudinal one.
Pistol-barrels, which are to go in pairs, are forged in one piece, and are cut asunder at the muzzles after they have been bored; by which, there is not only a saving of iron and labour, but a certainty of the caliber being the same in both.
The next operation consists in boring; this is done in the following manner : two beams of strong wood, as oak, each of about six inches in diameter, and six or seven feet long, are placed horizontally and parallel to each other, having their extremities mortised upon a strong upright piece about three feet high, and firmly fixed. A space of from two to four inches is left between the horizontal pieces, in which a piece of wood is made to slide, by having at each end a tenon let into a groove, which runs on the inside of each beam throughout its whole length. Through this sliding piece, a pin, or bolt of iron, is driven or screwed in a perpendicular direction, haying at its upper end, a round hole large enough to admit the breech of the barrel, which is secured on it by means of a piece of iron, that serves as a wedge, and a vertical screw passing through the upper part of the hole. A chain is fastened to a staple on one side of the sliding piece, which runs between the two horizontal beams, and passing over a pulley at one end of the machine, has a weight hooked to it. An upright piece of timber is fixed above this pulley, between the end of the beams, having its upper end perforated by the axis of an iron crank, furnished with a square socket; the other axis being supported by the wall on a strong post, and loaded with a heavy wheel of cast iron, to give it force. The axes of the crank are in a line with the hole in the bolt already described. The borer being then fixed into the socket of the crank, has its other end previously well oiled, introduced into the barrel whose breech part is made fast in the hole of the bolt; the chain is then carried over the pulley and the weight hooked on; the crank being then turned with the hand, the barrel advances as the borer cuts its way, till it has passed through the whole length.
The boring bit is a rod of iron somewhat longer than the barrel, one end being made to fit the socket of the crank, and the other being furnished with a cylindrical plug of tempered steel about an inch and a half in length and having its surface cut in the manner of a perpetual screw. A number of bits, each a little larger than the preceding one, are afterwards passed successively through the barrel in the same way, until it has acquired the intended caliber.
The last operation is that of colouring the barrel, previously to which it is polished with fine emery and oil, until it presents to the eye, throughout its whole length, a perfectly smooth and even surface. The practice of blueing is now discontinued, and browning is adopted in its stead. To do this, the barrel is rubbed over with nitric, or sulphuric acid, diluted with water, and laid by until a coat of rust is formed upon it, more or less according to the colour wanted ; a little oil is then applied, and the surface being rubbed dry, it is polished by means of a hard-brush and bees-wax.
The proving of barrels differs in different countries. The English Tower proof, and that of the Whitechapel company, incorporated by charter for proving arms, are made with a ball of the proper caliber, and a charge of powder equal in weight to this ball: the proof is the same for every size and species of barrel, and not repeated.
Rifling consists in forming upon the inside of barrels a number of furrows, either in a straight or spiral direction; into these, the ball is moulded, and any rolling motion along the sides of the barrel in its passage out is thereby prevented. This process is supposed to direct the ball more effectually to the object against which it is intended to operate. Barrels of this construction have been long in use upon the Continent, but were little known, and still less employed in England, till within these fifty years.
On the upper surface of the barrel, at right angles with its axis, is fixed a piece of flat, thin iron, about six inches from the breech, and on the centre of its top, a small square notch is filed; this is called the back-sight. The front-sight is nothing more than the small iron knot which is fixed on all fowling-pieces about half an inch from the muzzle. When the aim is taken, the eye is raised over the back-sight till the front-sight appears through the notch, which is then brought upon the object.
Great care is taken in the manufacture and finishing of the gun-lock : it consists of divers parts, such as the cock which holds the flint, the priming-pan to hold a small quantity of powder, which is connected by the touch-hole with that in the barrel; the hammer, which covers the priming, and against the upper part of which the flint strikes ; the trigger, used to bring the flint and hammer in contact; and certain springs, as the main-spring, the rear-spring, &c. which are concealed in the stock, and which are adapted either to hold the cock on the half-cock, whole-cock, or to extricate it at the moment of firing the piece.
Improvements upon gun-locks to prevent their going off accidentally, have latterly been made; and Mr. Manton, of Dorset Street, has obtained a patent for one upon improved principles : but we doubt whether any effectual improvement could be adopted, consistent with the simplicity required in this destructive weapon.
The lock is let into the gun-stock, which is uniformly manufactured from the wood of the waluut-tree, of which the Gun-Smith always keeps a large stock, and well seasoned. The gun-stocks are usually made by workmen at their own homes, because one man will fashion gun-stocks sufficient for the wants of several Gun-Smiths,
Before any of the pieces described are appropriated for service, it is necessary, as we have already observed, that each barrel should undergo a particular trial of its soundness, to be made by or before a person authorized for the purpose, called the Proof-master.
Gun-flints are made in large quantities, both in France and England, from the nodules of flint found in various places, particularly in chalk districts. The whole operation of making a gun-flint is performed in less than one minute. A good workman is able to manufacture a thousand good chips, or scales, in a day, if the flint nodules be of a good quality: and in the same manner he can fashion five hundred gun-flints in a day; so that in the space of three days, he is able to cleave and finish a thousand gun-flints without farther assistance. The gun-flints are sorted out according to their perfection. They are classed into extra and common flints, flints for pistols, muskets, and fowling pieces.
